During a typical business day, millions of parcels and items are delivered around the world. While computerized tracking, customer databases, and electronic scanning has greatly increased productivity and reduced mistakes, the great majority of these items are still tracked by various pieces of paper such as invoices, tracking forms, and the like. Often times during the order filling, tracking, and delivery process, workers will be dealing with various multiple paper forms at one (1) time. This often results in confusion, paper shuffling, and constant reorganization of the multiple papers, since only one can be read at a time on a standard clipboard or order board. Even under the best conditions, this process risks wasted time and errors and may result in wrong items being delivered or received. All of these problems add increased time and money to the process.
While clipboards are commonly used in these situations, they lack the ability to effectively display and work on several sheets of paper concurrently. Conventional clipboards include a rigid board with a clip mounted at an upper region to forcibly secure at least one (1) sheet of a paper document to the board. Typically the board is dimensioned slightly larger than a standard sheet of paper and is designed for only a single sheet to be worked on at any given time. These and similar support racks and invoice holders are designed to be held or placed upon another work surface while working on the paper document.
Various alterations and modifications have attempted to improve the functionality and usefulness of the conventional clipboard. Examples of these attempts can be seen by reference in several U.S. Patents, including: U.S. Pat. No. 1,279,971, issued in the name of Bender, which describes an invoice holder having a pair of document securing arms; U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,414, issued in the name of Hunter, which describes a clipboard having a pair of panels for receiving and viewing a document therebetween; U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,215, issued in the name of Evenson, which describes a clipboard having a variable position clip; U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,521, issued in the name of Callahan, which describes a steering wheel mounted support for computer, printed matter, food and/or beverage; U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,014, issued in the name of Barker et al., which describes a clipboard capable of being suspended on a slat wall for display; U.S. Pat. No. 7,137,175, issued in the name of Villeneuve, which describes a clipboard with dual clamping members; and, U.S. Pat. No. 7,168,672, issued in the name of Hsu, which describes a multifunctional support rack.
While these devices may accomplish their specific intended purpose, each suffers from one (1) or more disadvantage or deficiency with respect to design, function, or effectiveness. Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which multiple paper documents, particularly those associated with order filling or the delivery process can be handled and organized in an effective and convenient manner. The development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.